Assignment 8 Formal report of website evaluation For this assignment you’ll need to read chapters 9, 10, and 20, along with other related materials, and you will probably need to review other parts of the textbook. You’ll be conducting testing on a Web site and writing a report about it, so the information about Web sites in chapter 22 and reports in 9-10 is all relevant. You should also refer to other sections of the textbook as needed, especially pages 566-570, where usability testing is described and defined. Assignment 8 is the most heavily-weighted assignment in the course. You are expected to demonstrate your proficiency with usability testing, persuasion, document design, and writing style. You will be demonstrating your ability to document a research process in an IMRaD style report. You will cite the sources that you use, including the Web site you study, the textbook, and sources provided for you, using APA, IEEE, or another professional citation style. 1.       Select either www.Omantourism.gov.om or http://ragbrai.com/. 2.       Review the material about Web sites in chapter 22 and pages 566-570 so that you remember the most important standards and practices that the Web site designers should be observing. Usability testing is described in far more detail here. You can refer to this University of Texas document as a guideline as well. 3.       Write a short test for the site. The test must make sense for your site: you can have people search for a specific article, a piece of information that should not be too difficult to find, or some other element. You can do read-and-locate test, an understandability test, or a performance test. In addition, memorability and error recovery are also testable. Each site has different testable aspects. You must understand the site well enough to write a test that reasonably determines how usable some aspect of the site is. For example, on the Oman site, you might test people’s ability to locate places on the interactive map. You might time people and see whether they got to the right location or found the correct information. Be sure, as you develop the test, that you are testing the site, not the people. You must find at least two adults who will take your test so that you have test results to report. If you are familiar with a “methods” section of a scientific report, this step is similar. Successful tests in the past have timed tasks that users complete with the site, given people scenarios for using the site and asked them to describe their experience as they play out the scenario, or tested accessibility of a site for people with disabilities. You should test for something along those lines. 4.       Take careful notes as you plan and conduct the test – every step of the procedure needs to be documented, from the Browser you use to the observations you make. The “lab report” sample on pages 255-257 is very useful for modeling the kind of content and the formatting that is useful for ...

1. Assignment 8
Formal report of website evaluation
For this assignment you’ll need to read chapters 9, 10, and 20,
along with other related materials, and you will probably need
to review other parts of the textbook. You’ll be conducting
testing on a Web site and writing a report about it, so the
information about Web sites in chapter 22 and reports in 9-10 is
all relevant. You should also refer to other sections of the
textbook as needed, especially pages 566-570, where usability
testing is described and defined.
Assignment 8 is the most heavily-weighted assignment in the
course. You are expected to demonstrate your proficiency with
usability testing, persuasion, document design, and writing
style. You will be demonstrating your ability to document a
research process in an IMRaD style report. You will cite the
sources that you use, including the Web site you study, the
textbook, and sources provided for you, using APA, IEEE, or
another professional citation style.
1. Select either www.Omantourism.gov.om or
http://ragbrai.com/.
2. Review the material about Web sites in chapter 22 and
pages 566-570 so that you remember the most important
standards and practices that the Web site designers should be
observing. Usability testing is described in far more detail here.
You can refer to this University of Texas document as a
guideline as well.
3. Write a short test for the site. The test must make sense
for your site: you can have people search for a specific article, a
piece of information that should not be too difficult to find, or
some other element. You can do read-and-locate test, an
understandability test, or a performance test. In addition,
memorability and error recovery are also testable. Each site has
different testable aspects. You must understand the site well

2. enough to write a test that reasonably determines how usable
some aspect of the site is. For example, on the Oman site, you
might test people’s ability to locate places on the interactive
map. You might time people and see whether they got to the
right location or found the correct information.
Be sure, as you develop the test, that you are testing the
site, not the people.
You must find at least two adults who will take your test so that
you have test results to report. If you are familiar with a
“methods” section of a scientific report, this step is similar.
Successful tests in the past have timed tasks that users complete
with the site, given people scenarios for using the site and asked
them to describe their experience as they play out the scenario,
or tested accessibility of a site for people with disabilities. You
should test for something along those lines.
4. Take careful notes as you plan and conduct the test –
every step of the procedure needs to be documented, from the
Browser you use to the observations you make. The “lab report”
sample on pages 255-257 is very useful for modeling the kind of
content and the formatting that is useful for this assignment.
Your report will only be strong if you have actual test data that
supports your recommendation.
5. Plan the document. In Chapter 18, you read about
headings, subheads, and other design principles for documents.
Review these and design an appropriate layout for your title
page and report pages. Note that the title page, headers, table of
contents, page numbers, and subheadings are all part of the
grade. Do not use MS Word templates for design, but do use the
automatically generated Table of Contents and program, don’t
type, the page numbers into the document. The Table of
Contents is in “References” and the page numbers are found in
the “Insert” tab. Note page numbering in the example on page
286-297.
6. Draft the report by writing the major body sections in a

3. logical order (such as introduction, methods, results, analysis,
recommendations). You can start with an introduction or
methods, and be sure to include your evaluation of accessibility
and your recommendations for the Web site you have chosen.
The audience for the report is the Web site designers and other
interested parties. Save the first complete draft separately for
submission with the final document. If desired, consult with me
about suggested revisions before the report is due.
7. Format the final report; the report should mostly follow
the pattern on page 286. Decide which results are most
interesting and create a simple graphic (table, chart, or
infographic) to present it. You do not need to have the abstract
on the same page as the Table of Contents. You should not use
MLA style references as the example does; use a style specific
to your major, such as IEEE style. Your title page should
include your name, not the name of the team as the example
uses.
8. Edit the report and revise as necessary until the document
meets requirements and is virtually error-free.
9. Submit your report to Discussions by July 2 for a critique.
10. Submit your revised report draft and final revision to
Blackboard by the deadline. For full credit, the final needs to
demonstrate significant revision and improvement from the
draft. If you saved the body of the report when it was written,
then as you add titles, graphics, headers, footers, page numbers,
AND make the wording more concise, you will be
demonstrating good distinction between draft and final. The
final must be edited and well-designed.
Grading Criteria (200 points) A document that is plagiarized in
any way cannot receive a higher score than 20/200. If you have
friends in this course, be sure you are testing DIFFERENT parts
of the Web site.
Strong 90-100%

4. Average 76-89%
Weak 75% or less
Quality of test (40)
The goals of usability testing were understood, explained, and
achieved, as demonstrated in the report. Plan for test is made
clear. Results from actual test are included. People who took the
test are described. Sources are quoted or paraphrased correctly
and cited.
The test may have been conducted well, but the report does not
describe the test effectively, or the results are not described in
detail. We can’t tell where the material, ideas, or sources came
from.
Little understanding of the purpose of the test, or the test itself,
is evident in the report. You did not follow the instructions.
Persuasion (40)
The report provides results from a test that is fair, objective,
and responsible. The Web site designers should better
understand the importance of usability after reading the report.
You describe the Web site accurately to show you understand its
purpose and audience, and the test fits that rhetorical situation.
The credibility of the report comes into doubt; the logic of the
arguments is questionable; the evaluation is not evidence-based.
You misinterpreted the purpose of the site, so your test does not
fit the site’s goals. However, the report still may be useful in
some way.
You may not have understood the assignment, or little attempt
was made at presenting a compelling analysis and
recommendation. Your report does not make sense.
Drafting and revising
(40)
A draft was completed before July 2, then the final was
substantially improved before submission. All aspects of the
final report, from page layout to graphics to writing, are
polished.
One major aspect of the final submission still needs revision.
Quotes need to be attributed and incorporated into sentences.

5. The final does not show significant improvement over the draft.
No draft was submitted.
Clarity and style of writing
(40)
The report is written in plain style, with appropriate active and
passive verb tenses. First person (“I”) may be used sparingly to
describe methods of the evaluation. Almost no errors exist; any
that do are easily overlooked. Spelling and punctuation are
conventional. Quotes are integrated into sentences well. Title is
prominent and meaningful.
The report contains vague, confusing, or wordy writing that
could be edited for a stronger style. Errors are a little
distracting because there are multiple errors per section.
Subheadings do not describe sections of report well.
The report is difficult to read because of lack of editing or
because the style is vague or confusing. Most sentences need
editing. Subheadings missing. Title missing.
Layout and design
(40)
The report demonstrates your ability to originally design a
document with headings, subheadings, graphics, and other
features that allow for scanning and easy navigation by readers.
Fonts are professional, conventional, and legible. At least one
data table exists. Table of Contents is generated. Page numbers
are in header or footer.
Some design features were incorporated, but more needed. Some
features of the design do not reflect best practices. Typefaces or
fonts were not carefully chosen or have the wrong personality
for reports.
No understanding of design principles was evident. Ability to
use software to design a report is not evident. The report does
not demonstrate document design skills.
Submit your draft by July 2 for critique. Extra credit points are
possible

6. Individual research paper proposal (Economic Research
Methods 2014/15)
Name:
Student number:
What is your research theme? (one of the ten from the group
design list)
What is your specific research question? (remember to clearly
identify the outcome/dependent variable and the explanatory
ones)
What will you be using as your principal data sources(s)? (what
is the survey or administrative source – not the website)
Provisional mark
Feedback: